After half a week of publicly resisting the idea of patrolling near-campus neighborhoods in the wake of a rash of violent crimes, Eastern Michigan University police might start increasing their presence off campus.

In four recent forums, students raised questions about whether EMU police officers will assist city police with patrols in areas that, while directly affecting the university community, are not in the department’s jurisdiction.

"The chief will be meeting with the Washtenaw County Sheriff and the City of Ypsilanti to talk about how we might try to have joint patrols to increase security in that area," said EMU President Susan Martin on Wednesday during the third campus forum.

As recently as a Tuesday afternoon safety forum, EMU Police Chief Bob Heighes had concerns about possibly committing his officers to city neighborhoods. Despite having 10 more officers than the Ypsilanti Police Department, the EMU Police would remain concerned with campus, he said.

“We do collaborate, we just don’t patrol areas that are really not our responsibility in some ways,” he said, adding, “If I spend our resources out in the city, then I’m going to hear ‘Where are you at? We had an incident on campus, where are your officers at?’”

The area around LeForge Road has been in the spotlight since Friday morning, when EMU student and football player Demarius Reed was found dead from two gunshot wounds in the University Green Apartments.

Since then, an EMU student was beat by a group of men in the parking lot of Peninsular Place — another nearby apartment complex — and another student was pistol-whipped by a man while a group of men kicked in his front window in the Huron View apartment complex.

University Green Apartments officials hired more private security guards to patrol the complex Friday. At a forum Tuesday, students demanded the university do more to police those areas.

Ypsilanti City Manager Ralph Lange said discussions are ongoing between the city and EMU about what more can be done to increase security. He said Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton also pledged his support. A meeting between EMU Police, WCSO and YPD officials was scheduled for Wednesday night.

“We’re working on it and working on it quickly,” Lange told The Ann Arbor News. "You’re going to see extra resources being devoted. We clearly understand that’s needed and we’re willing to meet the demand.”

Eastern Michigan University makes up about 28 percent of the land in Ypsilanti and, while about 23,000 students attend the university, about 80 percent live off campus or commute.

"The city and sheriff's department are in talks of increasing patrol and resources in that area. We’re continuing to talk to EMU about that possibility," Lange said. "The security entity at the university and the city are talking about more things they can do together."

Statistics paint a picture of the Ypsilanti Police Department as understaffed and overworked.

According to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) benchmarks, departments should have 16 police officers per 10,000 residents. Ypsilanti has 11.7 officers per 10,000 residents.

A police officer averages 570 calls for service per year, according to SEMCOG. According to data presented earlier this year, Ypsilanti police officers average 800 calls per year.

Ypsilanti police used to have 40 uniformed officers. They’re down to 23, with more expected to be hired.

But, university students have made it clear they’re worried about their safety now, not later on when those officers are hired. The jurisdictional questions being worked on in Ypsilanti — should EMU help out the Ypsilanti police in the near-campus area? — are not unfamiliar.

One nearby university police department has actively started patrolling the area around campus, actually spending more time off campus than on. The results there have been very positive, according to police officials.

Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt said his officers spend about 60 percent of their time patrolling 4.8 miles of land around the university campus. That’s an increase from about 19 percent in 2006.

Holt said that decision, made when he was hired in 2008, has paid off in increased safety both on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. It’s impossible to ignore the effect crime off campus has on the university community, and he sees it as his department’s responsibility to get involved.

“People who commit crime downtown, by Joe Louis Arena or the Fox Theater, that same crew is going to come here,” he said.

Wayne State police put an undercover officer in that complex for six months and, at the end of that period, WSU officers led a raid on the building. People were arrested and the drug dealing stopped, Holt said.

Yet none of that was on campus. But, Holt said he believed the department needed to get involved to improve student safety.

“It is related,” he said.

In Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor Police Department and University of Michigan Police Department often work in close quarters. The departments have a concurrent jurisdiction agreement for streets and sidewalks that border U-M’s campus, meaning either department can respond to a call for service or take a report in those areas.

Current U-M police Chief Joe Piersante said he knows Ann Arbor police Chief John Seto cares deeply about the safety of students living off campus. He said it’s both the responsibility of university police and city police to make sure students feel safe.

“It’s hard to define things as city or university issues,” Piersante said. “A lot of these are overlapping and become community issues, whether they’re university or city jurisdiction.”

U-M officers often drive through near-campus areas to get from one part of campus to another and have the ability to stop to intervene if they see a crime being committed. However, they serve in an assistive role — Ann Arbor police will be called in to take a report and investigate.

In special circumstances, such as during the rash of sexual assaults in 2011 and following the death of Paul DeWolf in July, U-M police actively patrol near-campus areas where students live. The increased patrols were done in conjunction with the AAPD.

However, U-M police do not typically respond to calls for service in AAPD jurisdiction or take reports from those areas.

“If our officers are going from Point A to Point B and happen to see a drunk driver or a reckless driver, they would intervene,” Piersante said, adding that at some point AAPD investigators would take over.

As with many things, the ability to do more comes down to resources.

Holt said any university police department that wants to patrol its off-campus area would need to invest in more officers. Patrols have to be useful, with officers engaging with community members and being proactive. More time investigating often leads to more time doing paperwork and being in court.

However, the most important thing is remembering students want to feel safe and protected during their college experience, Holt said. Whether that’s on campus or off shouldn’t matter, he said.

For Wayne State officers, that includes taking care of the area around campus — businesses miles away from campus expect the Wayne State police to show up when they call 911, he said.

“Many people call us the Midtown police,” he said, adding, “It’s very effective for our area.”

Reporters John Counts and Katrease Stafford contributed to this story.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.